BlackBerry Bold 9000 review: Berry with guts

There we go folks, it's a BlackBerry grand slam at the arena and we're set for another ride with RIM's finest. We guess this here Berry is neither Curve-hot nor Storm-inventive but it's Bold enough to say little and do much. Even without being the latest or greatest of RIM devices, the Bold 9000 is clearly the pinnacle of what BlackBerry stands for.

BlackBerry Bold 9000 official photos

Moreover, the Bold 9000 is hardly a groundbreaking device outside the BlackBerry world but to Berry buffs it may be about as good as a mobile phone gets. Sporting flawless connectivity, a magnificent screen and one of the most comfortable QWERTY keyboards we have seen, the Bold 9000 is at the very least a great business gadget. Well then, it's business as usual on our end too so the BlackBerry Bold better get ready for one of our out-and-out reviews.

Key features:

• 2.6" 65K-color TFT landscape display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels
• Comfortable four-row full QWERTY keyboard
• Quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G with HSDPA
• Wi-Fi and built-in GPS and BlackBerry maps preloaded
• 2 megapixel camera, LED flash
• 624 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM
• BlackBerry OS v4.6
• Responsive trackball navigation
• Hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 8GB)
• Excellent build quality
• DivX and XviD video support
• Good web browser
• Office document editor
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Nice audio quality
• Smart dialing

Main disadvantages:

• No email support without BlackBerry Internet Service account
• Mediocre camera
• No FM radio
• The web browser is unstable when browsing through Wi-Fi
• No video-call camera

As we mentioned, the BlackBerry Bold 9000 doesn't pack ridiculously high-end multimedia or other fancy gimmicks to make a big splash outside the BlackBerry realm. Yet it does combine all the features that the brand loyals were dreaming to see on a RIM handset for quite a while.

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 at ours

GPS and Wi-Fi rarely coexist on BlackBerry handsets but the Bold is not the first ever anyway. The screen is not the greatest feat in terms of resolution either but it sure is a sight to savor. That Berries have always been among the standard-setters in QWERTY keyboards goes without saying. So, is it all about having both 3G and WLAN on a single BlackBerry phone?

Could be, but there must be more to it. So, starting on the next page we'll unbox and spin the BlackBerry Bold 9000 for you. We'll press them buttons and flip that trackball and hope the handset lives up to its name.